Means To An End
by VoxNexus
Summary: A case that will result in the laying off of hundreds of people gets tossed Mike's way and he isn't sure if he's morally cut out to go through with winning it. A One Shot .


**Means To An End**

"Those companies are on the brink of collapse and it's our job to help tear them down."

Mike managed a stiff nod and curt "right," after biting back the building audacity to object to this statement. Harvey ignored Mike's strained expression and turned to take in the vast panorama of the glass wall that took up the space behind his desk.

"This isn't about how many people will have their livelihood torn from under them when we close this case." Harvey turned to face Mike and stepped towards him, challenging him to disagree. "Don't let your emotions get in the way." His tone was a serrated blade that cut through any oppositional thoughts Mike was brooding over.

"Remind me why I hired you," Harvey stepped out of his office with an aggressive stride. Enough that he stirred up the stifling summer air between them that Mike was able to feel it bristle over his skin.

Mike nearly sighed as he stood up and retreated to his cubicle.

Was there any moral reasoning in being an attorney?

Mike's thoughts hovered over how disconnected Harvey was, how indifferent he was to the repercussions of being Pearson Hardman's most sought after closer. Mike slumped down into his seat as the direction of his thoughts conceived of how Jessica looked at him when he backed off from questioning Rachel during his first mock trial.

"_Soft and weak. Not what we're looking for here at Pearson Hardman."_

Mike's head suddenly began to ache as he read through the profiles of just some of the men who he'd been compiling evidence against in a case of white collar crime galling enough that the press was scrambling for an interview with their client.

Mike tried to comfort himself by knowing that waving the dirty laundry of larceners, forgers and corrupt power mongers was as close to making the right moral call as he'd get being an associate. What nagged at him however, was how cutting off the heads of the corporations would cause the rest of it to rot from the inside out. Businesses whose success manifested itself through corruption couldn't support the employers at the bottom of the corporate ladder. Many people would be laid off if he and Harvey won this case.

Mike rubbed the side of his head as he tried to clear his mind from the woeful chants telling him that what he was doing bordered on being unethical. Besides, he was an associate….doing his job and to do it well he had to be willing to surrender his personal convictions and remorseful biases for a more…_apathetic _disposition. At least Harvey would be pleased…

And working for Harvey was a much more convenient alternative having to sell drugs on a market routed with men much more immoral than any he'd encounter tailing behind a stuck up attorney.

Mike pressed the 'print' button and caught the reports as they filed out onto his desk. He picked up the newly printed profiles of some of the men whose prolific actions were about to create a rippling effect of controversy throughout the entire scope of their field of work. The papers were still hot and ink still settling as he flipped through them, his thoughts still whirling.

"_I'm against having emotions, not using them."_

Harvey's words overlapped Jessica's as a cold, unrepentant mantra, making him feel smaller and smaller with each repetition. Mike shook his head and locked on the piercing gazes of one of the company owner's whose experimental venture into forgery was soon to reemerge as a criminalizing force.

Mike applied some asterisks and underlined certain points on the articles as his thoughts converged into a point of conclusion: He'd keep his head down and let Harvey handle all the moral dilemmas and emotional shrapnel thrown their way.

He wouldn't let him see how shaken he would sometimes get over his decision making. He was intent on proving to Jessica, Harvey and finally, himself that he was built to be an associate. Particularly _Harvey's _associate, they both knew his role was crucial and Harvey would resent Mike if he lost his cooperation over an internal conflict as petty as whether or not to have a conscience.


End file.
